The present invention pertains to a method and an apparatus designed to assist the driver of a motor vehicle.
Usually, the training of truck drivers, and particularly drivers of heavy trucks, is intended to provide a better understanding of the engine operation; it also provides to the drivers knowledge of the most desirable operating areas in the load/engine speed diagram.
This knowledge results in operating the vehicle with a minimal fuel consumption, longer life of the engine and transmission, as well as an abatement of the pollution created by the noise level inside and outside the vehicle, and an abatement of the emission of toxic fumes and chemicals.
In order to achieve these goals, the vehicle manufacturers include some color indicators on the tachometers of some vehicles. Therefore, as long as the driver keeps checking his tachometer and the engine speed with respect to these indicators, the operation of the engine out of the recommended area, for a long period of time, may be avoided.
This practice, however, constitutes only a partial step toward the achievement of the goal, since the operator checks the engine speed only and the load is ignored. Actually, a full definition of the most desirable operating conditions can only be obtained by including the load of the engine.